35 Ways To Fall In Love With A Roman
by bad.friends.bad.touch.trio
Summary: He knew her. He didn't know how, because he'd never seen her before in his life, but he knew her. She had her demons. He was one of them, back to haunt her with the rest. Hazel/Leo with other pairings. R&R please.
1. meeting an old friend

**I don't own PJO, HofO, or Sunny D.**

* * *

><p><strong>1-meeting a friend you haven't seen in a while and realizing that some things never change<strong>

* * *

><p>Hazel kept herself very still and very quiet, her breathing fast and light.<p>

Her stomach was still swooping with the shock that she was going to see Sammy him again, not frozen in a picture that was seventy years old or in her memories.

Of course, it wasn't Sammy. Not really.

Arion trotted after her; she concentrated on the steady clip-clop and the tightness of Percy's grip.

This was real. Sammy was gone. Her heart ached more. This was real.

The Greek death trap hissed as it descended, whipping her hair into even more of a tangle until it probably looked like Medusa's. Wind flattened in a circle around the airship, like a helicopter landing. Hazel could feel the bronze just a mere 20 feet from her position, all that metal humming with power.

Hazel was absolutely terrified. No way was she getting in that death trap and leaving the ground. She'd go on Arion if she had to.

First out was Jason, his short blond hair not really moving in the breeze, an orange shirt puffed out and filled with wind. A new sword rested on his hip, a_ gladius_ in a leather sheath.

Hazel twisted her head to stare at Reyna, whose face was filled with betrayal as she stared at his shirt, a bright, sunny orange like a flare or Sunny D commercials.

A girl with chocolate, choppy hair, like she'd cut it with safety scissors, stepped out behind him. She blinked at the gathered people, raising her eyebrows at Octavian, who was gutting his teddy bear apprehensively, like she was saying, _Okay, you're weird_. Hazel immediately liked her. The Greek demigod followed Jason closely and gripped his hand hard.

Hazel glanced at Reyna again, who looked hurt _and_ betrayed now. The daughter of Bellona controlled her expression though and stared at Jason with a look of such detached interest, Hazel thought that hate would've been better.

Next out was Sammy. _Leo._ Her chest hurt like she'd just been shot through the heart with one of Frank's arrows. She'd heard about heartache before, but this was actual pain right where her heart was. She'd lost sleep over that boy in Alaska about 70 years ago, and there he was, not even paying her a glance.

The boy, who looked like Sammy but wasn't, was running around the machine now, fretting over it and skating his fingers across the metal like he was checking for dents.

Hazel studied him, his curly black hair that gleamed in the sunlight, his wild eyes, and his tanned skin; he looked the same. An exact copy of her almost-boyfriend.

A pretty girl with golden curls was coming out of the Greek machine, but Hazel barely saw her. All her attention was focused on Samm-Leo.

Now he'd grabbed Jason and the chocolate-haired girl in a hug, his wild eyes dancing with excitement as his lips moved, saying something to them. He seemed to just be overjoyed in the camp and the death-machine and life in general. Then he'd looked straight at her, a glow in his eyes. Recognition?

Hazel could feel Frank's concerned gaze on her, but she just shook her head, muttered an apology, and ran away like a coward. What kind of Roman was she?

She finally settled on Temple Hill, her legs aching. The camp, glittering silver, was spread out over the valley. Bronze gleamed from the center of the crowd of people.

Hazel raked her hands through her hair, calming the curly mass, and waited on the hill until the sun dipped low in the sky, and the crowd had dispersed. A group was headed toward the half-destroyed Senate House, who she assumed was Reyna, Percy, Jason, and the rest of the people who'd came out of the Greek machine of death.

"Hey." A calm voice issued from beside her.

Hazel let out a small shriek that was completely not Roman and whirled around.

The Sammy-look alike was sitting right next to her, his head tipped to one side curiously with the black curls falling over his forehead. A sweet scent, like oil and bronze melted together, fanned over her. He didn't look nearly as happy as he had when he'd came out of the Greek machine, like he'd dropped a façade he'd been keeping up.

Instead, he looked wistful, like he wanted to see something that he'd never see again.

"Oh, hi." Hazel tried to still her racing heart and convince herself that she was frightened, not nervous.

"Why are you running away?" Leo asked, grinning with one corner of his mouth pulled up farther than the other so it was lopsided. "Am I that ugly?"

His coffee-hued eyes gleamed at the words, as if he knew them, and his mouth twitched into a larger grin.

Hazel felt her mouth lift up at his contagious smile, then, for no reason, she flung her arms around him.

"Woah!" Leo sounded so shocked that she unwound herself from him and burst into laughter until tears splashed down her face, and she shook with a million thank-you's for whatever miracle had happened to bring him back to her.

"Uhh..." Leo began to laugh nervously too, looking awkward.

"Sorry." Hazel brushed at her cheeks and wiped her nose with a loud sniff. "It's just...a friend said that to me." She rubbed her eyes, which probably made them look red and swollen.

"Who?" Leo looked interested, but he immediately looked abashed, as if he hadn't meant to say that at all. "Sorry, it's just my dad, Hephaestus-I mean Vulcan, but not from Star Trek-he's not very social, so I tend to blurt out things, I'm not very good with organic life forms, and I should really stop talking now, shouldn't I?" Leo looked horrified at what he'd said. He pulled out a couple strands of wire-copper-and began to twist them together anxiously.

"No, I don't mind." Hazel did mind, but she faked a smile anyway. "His name was Sammy. He's...dead now."

"Oh." Leo's eyes went round as coins, and his fingers stopped dead. "Did he die in the battle?"

"Yeah." Hazel lied smoothly; she couldn't tell anyone about Sammy now. Especially when Leo was right there, with that same concerned look on his face that Sammy had when she told him about her curse. "Yeah, he did."

Leo frowned like he didn't think that was right. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Hazel managed a smile, a real smile this time.

"Okay...should we get back to Camp Jupiter now?" Leo asked, standing up and brushing grass off his jeans; they were stained with oil.

"Yeah. We probably have to be there for the senate meeting." Hazel made a face as she got up.

"Oh." Leo sounded surprised, and Hazel glanced up at him from under her eyelashes; he looked taken aback. "That sounds...fun."

Hazel laughed, probably the first time she had since the airship had arrived. "Nah, it's boring." She told him.

"Yeah, we get nachos at our meetings. I'm guessing your meetings aren't like that. You're Hazel, right?" Leo asked as they started down the hill, jumping from subject to subject so fast Hazel could hardly keep up.

The daughter of Pluto nodded as they reached the bottom of the hill and started toward the Senate House. She could just see Reyna standing outside, probably waiting to scold her for being late.

"Hazel. Nice to meet you, Hazel." He grinned at her, and her heart did a little flip-flop that usually only Frank made happen.

Leo wasn't Sammy. Sammy never smelled like oil or bronze, and he didn't mess up his words like his tongue was tripping trying to get them out so fast. But if Leo was Sammy's twin, Hazel wouldn't be surprised.

She had a chance at friendship again. And she wasn't going to move away from it this time.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, don't get me wrong, I love Frank and his relationship with Hazel, but I have a thing for going against the canon. My theories, especially regarding Leo and Sammy, will be explained throughout the story.<strong>

**Basically, this will take place at Camp Jupiter. Other pairings will be mentioned, but Hazel/Leo is the central.**

**So review, review? Even if you don't like the pairing? Or to tell me if they were OOC?**


	2. watching a sunset

**2-watching a sunset**

* * *

><p>Leo let his gaze wander around the Senate Hall, bored out of his mind. There weren't any nachos.<p>

Of course, it was really important to listen because he was one of the Seven, blah, blah, blah, but c'mon! He was ADHD!

Instead, he composed a list of the people in the hall:

Reyna: scary

Octavian: insane and gutting a Teddy bear

Hylla (was that her name?): terrifying

Dakota: drunk off red Kool-Aid

Jason: looking embarrassed at being gone so long

Piper: interested

Annabeth: saying something about Roman architecture that made Leo's brain hurt

Percy: annoyed because of his toga

Frank: listening carefully

Hazel: tired-looking

"Leo Valdez?" The icy voice cut into his thoughts.

"Hmm?" He jerked his head upright. "Yeah, I'm awake."

Octavian rolled his eyes. Reyna just sighed and told him to pay attention.

But his ADHD seemed to be acting up because he just couldn't focus on anything. This was taking so long...

"I'm going outside." He muttered to Jason, who nodded absently as he listened to Percy speak about Alaska or something; Leo doubted he'd heard him.

He went outside and settled on a bench outside, probably meant for people like him who couldn't pay attention in the meeting.

Leo sighed as he watched the sun sink down, streaking the clouds. The bench gave him a clear view of the illuminated hills.

Of course, maybe the second he walked into camp, he noticed her.

Hazel Levesque, a daughter of Pluto, a Roman, and one of the prettiest girls he'd ever met.

Why did everything happen to him? Was he just too handsome? Too charming? Too gifted?

Nah.

And naturally, the moment he'd seen her, she'd turned whiter than a sheet, as if she'd seen a ghost, and ran off. And then he'd followed her after he'd gotten introduced to everyone and gotten a death-glare from the Chinese kid, who he later learned was named Frank.

Oh, and he'd had to make a smart-ass remark about his ugliness, and Hazel had cried and strangled/hugged him, depending on your point of view. Yeah, that about summed it up.

The funny thing was, he didn't love her. Not like he had with Khione or Thalia or that girl named Jessica or the others.

He wanted to see her again, but it wasn't the usual obsessive infatuation where he couldn't think about anything but them and their looks. He felt like he knew her, like a half-forgotten memory of a friend when you were a toddler. He wanted to _talk_ to her.

She had golden eyes.

Leo heaved a heavy sigh. Those eyes were unforgettable, just by the color, but why did he still think that he knew her when he clearly hadn't seen her before? He didn't know anyone with golden eyes.

"Dude, you look like Hades." Jason said, sitting down next to him.

Leo didn't answer. Instead, he watched the sun lower more, almost half-hidden now by the hills.

"Leo? You in there?" Jason poked his arm curiously, though his voice was layered with concern.

"Yeah." Leo tore his gaze away from the sky to give his friend a reassuring smile that, from the look on Jason's face, failed epically.

"Are you okay?" Jason sounded really worried now.

"Yeah. Really, I'm fine." He added when Jason gave him a doubtful look. "Where's Piper?" He asked to take Jason's mind off him.

"She's talking to Reyna and Hylla." The Roman answered, pointing back toward the Senate House.

"The Amazon queen?" Leo frowned, trying to remember. Right, she was the one he'd labeled "terrifying". It was probably an apt description.

Jason nodded. "Percy wasn't like I expected." He observed.

"Don't look at me; I don't know him." Leo shrugged. "But you're right. I thought he'd be a lot more…I don't know, muscular."

"Yeah, but I bet he's stronger than he looks." Jason said thoughtfully. "He wouldn't have been able to defeat Kronos if he wasn't."

Leo shuddered. "Annabeth is scary enough as it is."

His friend nodded and tipped his head so that he could hear inside the Senate Hall better. "Sounds like they're dismissing."

He was right; a crowd of people exited the house, giving them both funny looks. Octavian gave Leo a dirty look. Jason got up and walked with Piper, which Leo figured wouldn't make Reyna too happy.

The last person out was the one on his mind. She smiled at him and said, "No nachos."

Leo couldn't help but smile back at her. Her eyes widened as if she were nervous.

Just when he was about to ask her about it:

"Leo? Want me to show you the forges before we have to go to bed?" Jason yelled, ruining the mood.

"Hell yeah!" Leo shouted back and hurried to catch up, distracted from the Roman girl behind him, who, if he'd looked, seemed relieved.

Just as Leo got to Jason, he remembered Hazel. When he turned around, she was sitting on the bench and doodling on something in her lap, her eyes fixed on the sunset.

Leo felt his lips turn up into a grin, but he just shook his head when Piper asked why he was so happy.

Romans watched the sunset too.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, I'm going to try to update every Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday. I posted this one because it's short. The first three chapters are going to just set the plot up, so they might be shorter than the rest.<strong>

**I don't own PJO or Heroes of Olympus, because if i did, The Mark of Athena would be coming out a lot quicker.**

**Good? Bad? Review?**


	3. waking up with a few extra hours

**3-waking up with a few extra hours to sleep in**

* * *

><p>Hazel woke up at approximately five in the morning, gasping.<p>

"I thought the blackouts were over." She muttered into her pillow, wiping the back of her hand over her forehead, which was soaked with sweat as if she had a fever. She rubbed her sheet over her wet cheeks.

"Hmm?" Someone else, she couldn't tell beneath the sleepy voice, called across the room.

"Nothing. Go back to sleep." Hazel called back. The person slumped back into their blankets with a relieved huff.

This one wasn't really a blackout. Oil was filling her lungs and her mouth; it tasted horrible. Sammy's face swam in front of her. Her mother stood with him, smiling. She tried to lift her arms, but they were like lead. Sammy and her mother faded away; she had missed her chance. Despair was crushing her like a big pile of schist was sitting on her chest.

And then she'd woken up, crying.

Now Hazel was fully awake; going back to sleep was pointless.

Instead, the Roman got out of bed, dressed silently, grabbed a pencil and paper, and went outside. She sat in the shadow of the cabin as the sun attempted to rise, trying to draw the camp, which was hard considering that it was roughly 5 in the morning.

She didn't let her thoughts stray to the airship. Because then she'd think of Leo and that would lead to _him_...it was hard with the Greek machine of death itself towering over her.

She had to admit, once she looked, the airship was faultless. The design was impeccable, built for war. Mars probably would've been impressed. She could see crossbows and cannons mounted on the outside. The details were amazing. The metal was almost vibrating with power.

A glint of bronze at the prow caught her attention; it was the head of a dragon, completely motionless with blank, staring eyes of rubies. They seemed to watch her. It looked almost…_alive_.

Hazel shivered, wondering who had thought of that for the masthead. It was creepy, the way the scarlet eyes followed you.

She glanced down at her notepad, which had a nearly perfect sketch of the masthead on it. She hadn't gotten the eyes quite right, but she doubted that any artist could depict them.

Damn it. She usually didn't get that distracted when she was drawing. Her hand must've moved as she examined the dragon head.

"That's amazing." An awed voice said from above her.

The Greek girl with chocolate hair sat down next to her, staring with brown eyes at the paper.

"It's nothing." Hazel felt herself go pink at the praise; no one but Frank or Percy complimented her.

The girl stared at her quizzically. Her eyes were jade-green now. "I'm Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite."

"McLean...like the actor?" Hazel had only heard about him; she hadn't actually seen any of his movies, but apparently he made millions of dollars with this one movie about Sparta or something.

Piper's mouth twisted into a smile that remained beautiful despite her resentful expression. "Yeah. He's my dad."

"Oh. Cool." Hazel couldn't think if anything else to say, since she didn't have the best father/daughter experience, so they sat in silence for a while.

"Why're you up so early?" Piper asked eventually. The sun was just starting to peek over the hills and burn away the mist.

"Nightmares. You?" Fear boiled in Hazel's belly as she remembered the oil in her lungs. She gulped in the crisp morning air, as if

"Same." Piper's face paled, her now-blue eyes glittering with terror.

"Oh." Hazel felt her face glow red again, except this time it was in shame. She shouldn't have asked.

"It's no problem." Piper added, seeing the look on the Roman's face. "Just something from a quest. Nothing big."

Hazel wasn't convinced, but she dropped the subject nonetheless.

"How old are you?" Piper asked curiously.

"Thirteen," Hazel answered. "but I'm turning fourteen soon." A bit of pride entered her voice.

"Oh, I thought you were fifteen." Piper looked shocked.

"I look older than I am." The daughter of Pluto responded happily.

The camp began to wake up, despite the fact that it was probably like six-thirty in the morning. A couple Latin curses drifted over to them from the people who fell out of their beds inside.

"Who gets up this early?" Piper asked in disgust.

"Just freaks like Reyna who think the camp needs to get up this early. Besides, it gives us time to get those damn togas on if we have meetings." Hazel said dismissively, but Piper laughed anyway.

Hazel finally recalled why she looked familiar. Hazel saw her outside the Senate House with Jason, and they were holding hands. No wonder Reyna had been in a bad mood lately.

"So...you and Jason?" Hazel asked, acting on her suspicion. Piper went red.

Ha. She knew it.

"I have fake memories from the Mist." Piper explained, a little too fast, as she got up hurriedly. "That's it."

"I wasn't accusing you." Hazel grinned as Piper turned redder, until she looked like a tomato. "Nice meeting you Piper."

"Likewise." Piper's teeth gleamed once as she smiled, all embarrassment forgotten, and she was gone.

Hazel stood and stretched. She folded the paper and put it in her pocket.

She could use some coffee.

* * *

><p><strong>I do not own PJO or HofO.<strong>

**This was me after reading my reviews for the first 2 chapters:**

**SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL *breathes* SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL**

**Next one is where the plot _finally_ kicks off, so I'll post it Friday. Sorry, no Leo in this one, but there will be some fluff in the next one :) I wanted some bonding.**

**Good? Bad? Review?**


	4. hot coffee in the morning

**4-hot coffee in the morning**

* * *

><p>Leo looked like a mess when he woke up. Dark purple bags looked permanently etched under his eyes. He looked like he'd barely slept, even though he'd slept pretty well.<p>

Coffee, he decided. Coffee was good.

Leo dressed in a daze. After figuring out that he was putting his shoe on the wrong foot, he tried to put an actual effort into paying attention.

After successfully clothing himself, he staggered out the barracks door and headed for the town, which he thought was called New Rome. A light mist hovered in the air, and dew covered the grass. Leo could appreciate the beauty of the place as he stumbled to the boundary line. Even Mount Diablo-the Devil Mountain, which still made him shiver, looked innocent and harmless.

With a little imagination, Leo could picture a towering palace in the fog, with smoky columns and misty animals haunting it. It seemed a shame that the sun would burn it up in an hour or two.

He stumbled up to the city's boundaries, and a broken statue materialized in front of him, looking angry.

"Please unload your weapons." The broken statue said in an annoyed tone. The little pig-tailed girl behind him held out a tray helpfully.

"Unload…my weapons?" Leo asked it.

"Yes!" The extremely ticked-off statue demanded irritably. Maybe he'd realized he had no hands earlier, or maybe nobody had fixed him. "There are no weapons allowed inside the Pomerian line! Your fancy belt there, take it off!"

The little girl held out the tray again, blinking candidly up at him. Leo seriously doubted her abilities to watch the tray, because her attention was mostly fixed on a couple of Monarch butterflies that were fluttering past, but he decided that he would do what the statue said. It looked as pissed off as a marble head and torso could be.

It felt weird not having his belt on. Like he was weak and helpless, running away from another foster home. He searched his pockets for some copper wire and cursed when they were empty. Just some lint.

The coffee/pastry shop was on the main road. It had a little, red-tiled patio with a couple spindly, black steel tables and chairs with umbrellas on them.

Guess Rome modernized.

Not many people were up; the city was still sleeping as the barracks were teeming with life. Leo could imagine this place as a ghost-town, forgotten and abandoned like Ancient Rome.

"Large black, please." He told the person across the counter, who was a pretty blond girl, maybe around 18. Her name tag read "Gwendolyn"

"Sure." Gwendolyn smiled at him and called his order back into the kitchen area of the shop.

Leo hurried to an empty table and kicked his feet up. He ran a hand through his hair, which probably made him look like a porcupine, and traced a groove in the metal.

"Leo?" Someone asked.

Leo yanked his head around. 14-karat eyes blinked at him. Unforgettable.

"Oh. Hey Hazel." She didn't look like she slept well either, Leo observed, as she nearly collapsed into a chair. She tucked a cinnamon curl behind her ear.

"Hey Gwen!" Hazel called. The blond turned around.

"Yeah?" The girl, Gwen, called back.

"Medium, extra cream." Hazel placed her order and turned back to Leo. She smiled wearily and placed her elbow on the table, leaning on her hand.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, not really thinking the question through.

Hazel raised an eyebrow as if questioning his mental stability. "Getting a coffee." She looked around at the shop, exaggerating the motion.

Leo could feel his ears burning, and he stared at the crimson tiles until his vision swam. "Oh. Right." He swirled his hand around the curved table edge.

"You look like crap." She told him bluntly, tapping her fingers impatiently.

"Thanks." Leo teased, looking up with a grin. "You sure do know how to make a guy feel good about himself."

Hazel laughed. He grinned at the sound. Gwendolyn looked over at them suspiciously as if she didn't trust him.

"Why do you look like you stayed up half the night?" He asked her.

The daughter of Pluto flinched, her eyes widening with something close to panic. "Nightmares." Her voice was remarkably steady.

"Oh." Leo finally used his head and stayed silent on the subject. Hazel was chewing at her bottom lip worriedly.

Score 1 for Leo. You managed to chase a girl off, and you don't even like her.

But, a tiny voice whispered in his mind, what if you do like her?

Gwendolyn helpfully provided a distraction from the question and set down their coffees, which were steaming, and she smiled fondly at Hazel. Leo wondered if they were related or something before he remembered that Gwen used to be Cohort 5's centurian.

"Hey Gwen." Hazel said between sips of her Styrofoam cup. "How's college?"

"College?" Leo interrupted.

Hazel and Gwen looked at him like he was crazy.

"Yeah, doesn't your camp have a college that demigods can go to after they've finished their 10 years of service?" Hazel asked.

"Not that I know of." Leo shook his spiky head. "I think they're just thrown into the streets. We don't do service."

Gwen frowned. "That's weird." She walked away to talk to someone else, waving a goodbye to Hazel.

Hazel was staring in amazement. She leaned back, hooking her thumb into the belt loop on her jeans and sipped her coffee nonchalantly. "Really? Nothing?"

"Nope. They go into the mortal world." Leo said, swallowing a lot of hot coffee and almost choking to answer her.

"Weird." Hazel looked mystified. "What if they die? And the children of the Big Three?"

"We're trained to fight for our lives." Leo reminded her. "I think Chiron's just a pessimist though."

She laughed again, and Leo felt proud of himself. He'd gotten a daughter of Pluto to laugh twice.

"It must be nice to have a teacher there all the time." Hazel said. She took the top of her cup off, releasing a bunch of swirling steam, and traced the circle with her finger, seeming distracted. Her eyes were dark and unsettled, as if she believed that the differences between Greek and Roman were too great to overcome.

"Not really. Can you imagine having a teacher with you all the time?" Leo grinned crookedly at her. "I think Reyna and Annabeth should get together and talk sometime. If they ever wanted to conquer the world, they'd be unstoppable. Annabeth's architecture and Reyna's...dictatorship."

Maybe he'd had too much coffee.

Hazel agreed though with a laugh, her eyes lightening up. Leo was astonished at how pleased he felt, just from her being happier. It was strange; he'd never got that reaction from making people laugh.

Hazel stared steadily at the street, which had long shadows casted over it from the sun. She didn't seem to want to look at him.

"So, who designed the airship?" She asked as she turned to watch the sunlight glimmer off the bronze in the emerald field.

"I did." Leo couldn't help but be smug.

"What?" She looked astounded, and her eyes flew to meet his. "_You_ designed it?"

"Yup. And I built it. With my cabin." Leo felt compelled to add, so he didn't look like he was trying to impress her.

Because he wasn't. Nope. Definitely not trying to impress a girl. Not just any girl either, Hazel Levesque, who had seen it all. And he wasn't even trying to impress her anyway, so why did he care that she looked so admiring?

He didn't.

Denial, the voice said in a sing-song tone.

Shut up, he told it. There's nothing to deny.

"What's with the cabins?" Hazel asked curiously. "I've heard you guys mention them a lot." Leo tore his mind away from his thoughts.

"Well, at our camp, instead of cohorts, we have cabins. You're sorted by your godly parent, and the cabin is decorated pertaining to the god or goddess." He tried to explain, tapping his fingers on the metal table restlessly.

"What about the ones who are alone?" Hazel asked sadly, staring at her tattoo on her forearm with the weird glyph.

"There's other campers." Leo offered. "And the gods aren't exactly chaste. There's a bunch of Big Three children."

"Like who?" Her eyes were still fixed on her arm.

"Jason and Thalia-his sister," He added. Hazel looked astounded.

"I didn't know Jason had a sister." She said quietly, clenching her fist. Leo hoped she wouldn't clench the other one, or she'd crush her cup.

"Yeah, she's a Hunter of Artemis. Super hot." Leo blundered on, oblivious to Hazel's hurt look. "And Percy's alone, but you got Nico. Oh, and his sister, who died, what's-her-name..."

"Bianca." Hazel muttered, glaring at the scarlet tiles so hard, Leo wouldn't be surprised if they cracked. She cleared her throat, and said, louder, "Bianca di Angelo."

"Oh." Leo nodded, his hair flopping in front of his eyes.

"She went for rebirth." Hazel said. Her knuckles had turned white. The metal chair he was sitting in creaked as if threatening to break apart.

"Oh." Leo looked bewildered. Hazel sighed through her nose and leaned forward, coffee forgotten.

"Didn't anyone tell you about the Underworld?" She asked.

"Uh, no, well, the basics." Leo flushed, suddenly hyper-aware of exactly what shade of eyes she had and the way her hair curled into her face. She brushed the offending curl behind her ear again as she tried to find the right words.

"The Underworld is made of three parts-The Fields of Punishment, Elysium, and the Fields of Asphodel." Hazel paused, as if she were considering saying something else. "You probably know that. There's a river called the Lethe; it makes you forget everything, wipes your mind blank."

Leo watched her, interested, as she frowned, biting her lip. Her eyebrows bunched together, forming a crease as she tried to remember.

"And if you choose, you can be reborn after being dunked in the Lethe. If you've achieved Elysium three times, you go to the Isles of the Blest." She explained.

"Maybe that's what Bianca di Angelo wants." Leo offered. Hazel shrugged, noncommittal, and kept silent.

Leo sipped his lukewarm black coffee, watching the street. People had filled up when they were talking; the sun was higher in the sky. Cheerful chatter echoed over to them, tiny snippets and fragments of conversation. The hills provided a peaceful green contrast to the red shingles on the roof and the mild, laidback palette of the buildings.

Hazel finished her tepid coffee off quickly and walked toward the street and the boundary line with the fanatical statue.

"Oh, and your shirt's on inside out." She said to Leo as she turned back to wave at Gwen, and she dashed away.

Leo's mouth was hanging open after her. The recognition hit him again, stronger than ever.

He_ knew_ Hazel Levesque.

* * *

><p><strong>I don't really like the ending, because you all probably know what my theory is. Oh well.<strong>

**Did I put enough detail in? I tried to put more in than the last one, but some parts seem less detailed than the rest. Meh.**

**If you're wondering, Hazel is hurt/offended when Leo called Thalia hot because she still remembers Sammy when she looks at him.**

**Rick Riordan is still in denial. He has this crazy idea that he owns HOO and PJO. Well he doesn't! I do, MWAHAHAHA! Wait...why are you coming toward me with a straightjacket?**

**Good? Bad? Review?**


	5. your favorite food

**5-your favorite food**

* * *

><p>Hazel sighed as she slumped onto the bench next to Dakota, who was swigging from his Kool-Aid flask. His lips were blood-red, like he was a vampire.<p>

"Hey." She greeted, rubbing her temples. She had a horrible headache from Percy slamming the hilt of his sword into her helmet. Of course, he apologized over and over, and she'd told him it was alright, but it still made her head throb.

Dakota, instead of answering, shrugged a reply and cussed good-naturedly at his flask, which he'd just emptied all over his face. If Nico had been there, Hazel would've covered his ears.

Nico...sure, he was younger than her, but Hazel always felt that Nico was the older one. More serious, more composed. Now he was gone.

She felt a nearly overwhelming urge to find him, just run to Rome and get her brother back. He was depending on her. She owed him. But plans had to be made, trust had to be formed. Hazel was still doubtful of the two sides ever fully resolving their differences; the Greeks just seemed too alien. Too foreign.

One of the aurae flitted over to her with a bowl of shrimp gumbo. Yum.

"Hey." Dakota said, finally finishing his string of curses off, and Hazel looked up.

"Hey Dakota. Hi Hazel." Frank sat down next to her, blushing.

Hazel felt a flash of irritation. He acted like they were dating, but they hadn't even discussed it. Guilt squirmed to life as she remembered the kiss; she hadn't thought it through.

Frank squeezed her hand when she didn't answer-uncomfortably tight. She pulled her hand from his grip. Thankfully, her rejection was masked by Percy and Annabeth's arrival.

"And the columns are so graceful, did you see them?" The gray-eyed blond was chattering excitedly.

"Yes, I did." Percy said patiently. He gave Hazel and Frank a look like, _what can you do_?

Hazel's heart ached as she saw how in love they were. Even she could see it, in Annabeth's giddy expression and the gleam in Percy's eyes.

"So where's Jason?" Frank was craning his head to look for the legendary praetor. He'd only seen him for a week or two before Jason disappeared.

"There." Hazel pointed toward the two empty praetors' chairs.

The rich purple tapestry provided a stunning contrast to the golden eagle. Hazel couldn't help her pride at helping retrieving it. The stone chairs were lonely-looking, bleak and empty.

Jason was sitting at the table nearest to the chairs. He was wearing a purple shirt instead of the orange one. His blond hair seemed to glow in the dim light. Piper and Leo sat on either side of him as if to draw strength from.

Reyna was sitting across from Jason, looking furious. As Hazel watched, she stalked away angrily. Jason put his head in his hands, and Piper rubbed his back soothingly, her lips moving but her words lost in the chatter and laughter.

Hazel's gaze was caught by Leo. He was sitting remarkably still, talking to Jason. He was using his hands a lot as he spoke, and when he'd finished, he cracked up.

Hazel's lips curled up into a grin as Jason smiled and Piper laughed. The son of Jupiter began to lose his depressed appearance that even Hazel could see from across the room.

It was...sweet that Leo was so concerned, she thought.

"What are you looking at, Hazel?" Frank asked, wrapping his beefy arm around her in a casual but possessive way. Whether or not he meant for it to be possessive, Hazel didn't know.

Instead, she raised an eyebrow at him, a skill she'd picked up from who-knows-where.

Frank either didn't see this or he chose to ignore it; all he said was, "I need to talk to Cassie."

Cassidy was a daughter of Apollo and Octavian's apprentice. She'd only been in camp for about a year, and she'd only exhibited any prophetic signs once or twice. She was a lot more pleasant to talk to though. Honestly, she scared Hazel; she reminded her too much of her mother. All prophets did.

"Okay." Hazel said, fixing her attention on the trio again.

Frank smiled and kissed her cheek in goodbye. Hazel had to consciously resist the urge to flinch away; it was just awkward. Like a cousin kissing her.

"Bye." Frank said and walked away to find Cassie. Percy and Annabeth drifted off a while later, apparently to find a friend of theirs named Rachel. Hazel assumed she'd come out of the airship after Hazel herself had ran away.

Looking up, Hazel's golden eyes met Leo's cocoa-brown ones; he was watching her with an unreadable expression on his face that made her uncomfortable. He smiled a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes and gave her a joking salute. Someone might think it was mocking, but Hazel knew better.

Leo would do anything for a laugh. Just like Sammy.

The daughter of Pluto heaved a sigh that could probably be heard across the room. Dakota looked down at her curiously.

"Y'okay there Hazel?" He asked kindly with a slurred voice.

"Golden 'Kota." Hazel said, using his nickname. She stared at the roughly hewn wall, biting her lip as she tried to decipher that look. Dakota grinned over her shoulder.

"Imperial golden?" A laughing voice said from behind her, the smile bleeding through.

Hazel froze as tingles ran up her spine. Her heart was suddenly beating louder in her chest, thumping against her ribs as if asking, _Anybody home_?

Slowly, as if she were turning to stone at the speed of a snail, she turned her head.

Leo grinned at her, plopping himself down across from her. Everyone around them stared. Whispers broke out like wildfires.

"So, why isn't this table crowded? The hero who saved the Roman camp?" He arched an eyebrow.

"Frank's talking to Cassidy. Percy's with Annabeth. Besides," Hazel tucked an auburn tress back, "Jason's getting most of the attention. Him and the famous Greeks." She teased.

Leo shrugged, "Famous, my ass. I'm not famous for anything." He scowled darkly at the stone ground.

"What was Reyna talking to Jason about?" Hazel changed the subject quickly, sensing a bad topic.

"Reyna asked him about Piper." Leo answered, distracted from whatever he'd been thinking of.

Hazel let out a long, low whistle. "Wow. What did he do?"

"Outright told her that they were never dating, and he liked Pipes." Leo looked astonished and slightly envious of his friend's daring.

"Reyna's not someone you want to cross." Hazel laughed. Dakota groaned beside her at the increase in noise.

"Tell me 'bout it." Leo shivered. "Nice eagle, by the way." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the golden statue. "You helped rescue it, right?"

"It was mostly Frank and Percy." Hazel shrugged it off.

"You deserve some glory too!" Leo looked outraged at her response. "You almost died!"

"It was only because my name wasn't on the death-list that I didn't." Hazel shifted uncomfortably in her seat, embarrassed even though there was no one who could hear them except Dakota, who was piss-drunk.

"I mean the actual quest. The giant and everything." Leo fixed her with such a piercing stare that she gaped; she'd never seen him so serious.

"Yeah, I guess." She decided to give in; anything was better than meeting his eyes.

Then he beamed, so widely, with pure white teeth against his tanned face, and Hazel felt herself go red and stuttering.

"Because you helped Percy and believe me, Annabeth would've gone on a rampage if he'd died. You deserve glory." His eyes were open innocently, blinking like an owl.

"Oh. Right." Hazel crushed down any disappointment, because there wasn't any. Nope. Nada. Zip. Zero. None.

"I was going to say something else..." Leo bit his lip. Hazel stared determinedly at his forehead.

"Right!" His face brightened into a smile. "Thalia's coming!"

"Jason's sister?" Hazel was caught off guard.

"Yeah. She had to do this important thing for Artemis-Diana, sorry, but she said she'd be here in a couple days."

Hazel, naturally, didn't feel any jealousy at Leo's dazed, love-struck expression. Of course not. She had no reason to be jealous of a Hunter.

"Oh. Right." Was all she could think to say. Her lips twitched into a smile she didn't mean. Leo didn't notice anything.

"Well, gotta go." He heaved himself to his feet, nodding at Dakota, who completely ignored him. Leo started to walk away, but he turned back as if he remembered something.

"I'm glad you didn't die too Hazel." He said, with a sweet smile, and Hazel had to hide her face with her bowl of ice-cold shrimp gumbo.

There was one thing she couldn't deny though, even if she convinced herself she wasn't disappointed or jealous.

She wanted to see Leo Valdez smile again.

* * *

><p><strong>Some fluffy goodness. I love writing fluff between these two. And I'm adding Thalia and Rachel in. Forgot about them earlier. And I'm not the best with detail and I rushed this one, so…next one is on Wednesday.<strong>

**Okay, I need help on Octavian. I was thinking of pairing him with Reyna or Rachel. Or neither, what do you (as the reader, whose opinion actually matters) think?**

**Good? Bad? Review?**


	6. seeing a friend you haven't seen

**6-seeing a friend you haven't seen for months**

* * *

><p>Leo ran a hand through his hair, trying to tame the messy, short curls that seemed prone to spilling over his forehead and sticking straight up in the back.<p>

Butterflies fluttered in his stomach. He felt like he was about to burst into flames at any moment, which technically would be a fire hazard.

He, Piper, Jason, Reyna, Percy, Annabeth, and Rachel were waiting for Thalia to arrive. They were waiting just inside Camp Jupiter's boundaries, above the sparkling Little Tiber.

The view was amazing, Leo had to admit. Campers swarmed like ants over the Field of Mars, and the size only enhanced the similarities. Two seemingly-impenetrable walls had been constructed in the mere 4 hours they'd been standing there.

Leo loved watching the construction. It provided a healthy distraction from the long wait. He'd already gotten yelled at for messign around, by Piper, Reyna, _and_ Annabeth. Those girls were scary.

A lonely breath of wind pulled at Leo's curls half-heartedly before giving up and settling for ruffling the carefully-tended hair up. He carefully fixed it again, wanting to look good for Thalia.

Reyna looked tenser with every passing moment. She was staying far away from Jason and Piper, looking betrayed.

"Where is she?" The praetor finally barked out impatiently, giving Jason a scornful glare that would've killed small animals.

"I'm sure she'll be here soon." Jason said tersely.

The sun rose higher, shining in Leo's eyes. Reyna fiddled with her purple cloak edgily. Rachel, Percy, and Annabeth were talking in hushed tones, casting glances at the entrance and at the Field of Mars. Piper comforted a worried looking Jason, saying that Thalia would be fine.

Leo spent the time watching the construction, hearing the distant commands and confident taunts toward the other team. He didn't dare attempt to start using the fire-using abilities.

"They don't know about fire-using." Percy had told him when he'd arrived and explained about it.

"They'll think we're even weirder if they know about it." Annabeth had added, her hand gripping Percy's hand so hard Leo thought it would cut off the circulation. "They won't trust us."

So, that led to his current boredom. Thankfully, it was shortly over. Well, not shortly, considering the amount of time they'd spent waiting, but it wasn't that bad.

"Thalia!"

Leo whipped around. There she was.

Thalia Grace grinned at him; well, actually, she was grinning at Jason, but he was close by!

She was clad all in silver, down to the silver circlet on her spiky, inky-black head. A big smile showed sparkling white teeth.

"Hey Jason!" Thalia embraced her brother first. He hugged her fiercely, looking like he was about to start chastising her like he was the older sibling and the younger had come home too late.

"Hi Annie, Piper!" Annabeth scowled playfully at the nickname, but she allowed Thalia to wrap her and Piper in a hug before Thalia approached Reyna.

Leo saw Jason visibly tense, as if worried about Reyna's reaction to his sister. By the apprehensive look on his face, Leo guessed he hadn't told Reyna about having a sister.

"Who's this?" Thalia asked rudely, staring at Reyna with one eyebrow arched questioningly. Leo grinned; Thalia was the same as ever.

"Reyna, praetor of the Twelth Legion and daughter of Bellona, a goddess of war." Reyna said, looking affronted and a little insulted.

"Oh." Thalia held out her hand. Reyna shook it, an uneasy look on her face.

"Leo! Rachel!" Thalia hugged then both; she smelled like crushed pine needles, like she was still a tree. Her skin was cool and smooth as silk, and she seemed to radiate silver light.

"Nice to see you Thalia." Leo felt his cheeks burning, and he wondered distractedly if his hair had burst into flames.

"Yeah, yeah." Thalia turned back to Jason quickly, and Leo caught Piper smirking at him from behind the Hunter's back.

He stuck his tongue out at her.

"Mature Valdez." Piper laughed. Everyone looked at him, and he blushed again.

"C'mon, we have to talk about the war games tonight." Reyna said, waving her hand at the two walls.

"What are the teams?" Percy and Jason asked at the same time. They blinked at each other, and everyone laughed. Even Reyna cracked a smile.

"Greeks, Hunter of Diana, and Fifth Cohort against the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Cohorts." The praetor said, inspecting her nails casually.

"We're so going to own them!" Leo cheered, jumping up and down excitedly.

"You're an idiot." Piper said, but she grinned at his enthusiasm as well. Annabeth peered at the walls and immediately began to tell Rachel about weak points and supports or something like that.

"Is that a little unfair?" Jason worried.

"Nah." Percy said proudly. "You underestimate our abilities in battle."

"Believe me, I know." Jason laughed. "I was asking for them. They don't know about Greek tactics."

Percy paused, as if thinking about it, and then he burst into laughter. Annabeth and Thalia soon joined in. Leo pouted at not being included in the inside joke, and Piper slapped him upside the head. He glared at her.

The wind picked up as the group started down the hill toward the Little Tiber. Leo gave up on fixing his hair; it's not like it would matter. The sun sparked in their eyes and reflected off the river.

Rachel suddenly dropped to the ground, her eyelids fluttering half-closed over her brilliant emerald eyes. Acid-green smoke issued in abundant amounts from between her lips as if she were puking up a green-colored fire.

"Ah, damn it." Leo muttered as he caught her before she rolled down the hill and drowned in the Tiber, which would probably be the saddest death ever.

"What-" Reyna started, but she was cut off.

The snake-like voice, like wind rustling through brittle and dry grass, began to speak.

_Roman and Greek are united at last_

_Enemies feuding over things long past_

_Twin blessings of Hades and of fire_

_Life and death hanging on a wire_

_The gamble's price remains to say_

_And death unleash in a game of play_

Rachel rubbed her temples, groaning under her breath. She rolled over and sat up, looking dazed.

"What was that?" Reyna asked, giving Rachel a look of horror.

"Our oracle, um, spews smoke." Leo explained as he helped Rachel up.

"She channels the Oracle of Delphi." Annabeth described, more quickly and much better than Leo could.

"Right..." Reyna was paler than usual. Leo recalled that Octavian was their oracle-thing.

"What does it mean though?" Percy asked, looking worried, biting his lip.

"_Romans and Greeks united at last_...That's pretty self-explanatory. We're here." Thalia said, and Leo nearly jumped a foot in the air; he'd forgotten she was there.

"_Enemies feuding over things long past_..." Annabeth repeated cryptically. "Same thing, self-explanatory."

"_Twin blessings of Hades and of fire/Life or death hanging on a wire_." Piper's eyes were wide as she glanced at Leo; his own eyes were huge with confusion.

"_The gamble's price remains to say_," Reyna said, not noticing the two exchanging horrified looks. "_And death unleash through a game of play_."

"You don't think?" Jason asked, sweeping his hand regally toward the Field of Mars, where warriors still scurried around. A competitive, apprehensive feeling seemed to linger over the field, illuminating the warriors not as fearless Romans, but as humans – teenagers, children – that lived and breathed and could die just as easily and painfully as a mortal.

"I don't know." Reyna said ominously, her eyebrows bunching together anxiously. "I just don't know."

* * *

><p><strong>Alright, excuses for why I didn't update: my computer decided that it was the perfect time to get a virus. Stupid, I know. And I was depressed, it happens a lot. And I had to reduce the amount of chapters because there was no way I could do 55. And I can't do prophecies worth crap. Please don't be mad. I am alive, don't worry.<strong>

**Yeah, this chapter sucks. Like hell. Oh well, it just leads up to the next one, which will be better, mark my words! And I added a bunch more detail than before, it was like a page less!**

**Speaking of the next one, can I do updates on Fridays? Please? It will make my life so much easier since school and stuff is already making my life a living hell *sigh* and next chapter we finally get to see my theory for Leo!**

**And I decided to give this story an actual plot! Yay for me! *throws confetti* And Octavian doesn't use the Spirit of Delphi, so I assumed Reyna would be a bit freaked by Rachel.**

**Okay, for Octavian: Reyna or Rachel or Neither? And Jason: Reyna or Piper or Neither?**

**the "glare that could kill small animals'? That's my glare XD**

**Good? Bad? Review please?**


	7. winning a game

**7-winning a game**

* * *

><p>"So...explain how we got stuck with guard duty again?" Hazel asked, brushing a bit of hair out of her face with a huffy, sulking sigh.<p>

They were standing next to the flag, a tall wall made haphazardly of gray bricks towering before them, creating a circle around the two demigods. The sun cast a shadow over them.

"Because they don't think we're skilled enough to actually take the flags." Leo said dully.

Hazel's face turned white and red at the same time in fury. "What!"

Leo shrugged, completely okay with that fact.

"Well, it's not like I'm ever going to be as good as Jason or Piper." He told her, staring at the darkened ground with a harsh expression.

_Never going to be good enough..._

"Or Percy or Frank." Hazel continued, and Leo was surprised to see her mirroring his bitter look.

"So that's how we got stuck on guard duty." Leo concluded, staring at the gray bricks in front of him as if they were giving him the key to life. Now that he looked, they seemed much more sturdy than at first glance.

"Well, this sucks." Hazel stuck her tongue into her cheek thoughtfully.

"Yup." Leo agreed, tapping out a beat on his blue, jean-covered leg.

Silence fell over them like a blanket, soft and _thick_. Leo was half-certain that he could cut the foggy quiet with a knife if he had one.

The sound of clashing swords and screams of challenge reached their ears. Panicked orders and shouts of defiance floated toward them on the breeze.

Hazel got up quickly and began to pace the length of the fortress restlessly, swinging her cavalry sword.

Leo, bored, watched her, admiring her graceful walk.

"We should be out there helping!" She said loudly, turning around quickly, and oh my god, she was _beautiful_. Her hair was a curled mess, spilling out of her helmet as if they wanted to defy gravity, and her cheeks were flushed passionately under angrily sparking, over-zealous eyes.

Beautiful.

"Huh?" Leo answered eloquently, unable to tear his gaze away from her.

She turned away first, cheeks burning a brilliant red.

"We shouldn't be sitting here on guard duty." She sulked, and Leo thought she looked just _adorable_ pouting.

"Ha! They left these two?" They looked up to see a group of five demigods clambering over the wall.

Leo drew his hammer, but it felt painfully inadequate against their swords which suddenly looked very sharp.

Five against two. Great.

"This will be easy." The person in front - Leo thought it was a girl - said as if relishing the idea of skinning them alive.

Then she flew at them with a raw-throated war cry.

The leader went straight for Leo, stabbing at him with her spear like she wanted, ultimately, to literally kill him. Leo yelped like a dog and ducked under it.

A moment of confusion appeared on the girl's face before she stabbed down at his face.

Leo twisted out of the way, bringing the hammer down on the wooden shaft. Oh, she_ did_ want to kill him.

The stick almost splintered, creaking dangerously, but a look of panic made the girl look slightly crazed and a bit psychotic. She screamed in fury and tried to stab him again.

"Seriously, what's with the trying to make me into a shish-ka-bob?" Leo muttered distractedly, concentrating on not bursting into flames.

The girl drew a knife in one hand, keeping the spear balanced in the other, and slashed at his face.

Leo screamed in pain as the Imperial Gold left a burning scrape down his jawline as he twisted out of the way. The knife turned halfway down his face and left a jagged swerve in the cut. Blood began to leak out, down his neck and into his shirt, which soaked it up like a towel.

Leo brought down the lead ball of the hammer down again, powered by adrenaline and fury at the Roman, who looked pleased with herself. Just a spark erupted, not enough for suspicion, but the shaft broke in two.

The girl looked utterly dumbfounded, as if she hadn't thought he was capable of breaking her spear, before Leo hit her lightly upside the head, and she crumpled like a puppet with its strings cut, the knife dropping from her slack grip.

"Yeah!" Leo yelled, hoping that she was okay even if she'd tried to kill him.

Whirling around at a small shriek, the son of Hephaestus saw a sight that made his blood run cold in horror.

Death unleash through a game of play...

Hazel was flat on her back, her cavalry sword lying out of reach. Two of the demigods were standing over her, one of the swords aimed at her throat.

Hazel turned her head to look at Leo, and for an instant, an everlasting instant, desperate gold met shocked brown.

Memories flooded into Leo's mind, familiar and strange at the same time. A school in New Orleans, growing old (okay, weird experience), never forgetting the sparkling, gilded eyes. The judgment panel, asking-no, begging for rebirth, for the Lethe, just to forget the freaking memory of those gods-damned eyes. The cool, silky feel of the Lethe washing over him and screaming in loss and pleasure as the golden memory left. A man was looming over him, giving him a kind, albeit creepy, smile and telling him he'd be privileged enough to be in the same family.

A name floated, just out of reach. Leo tried to snatch it out of the air, but it eluded him. He frowned and tried again, concentrating on remembering.

Sammy...Sammy Valdez. Yes, that was him. Or was it?

It was about this time that Leo realized his eyes were closed. He opened them to white curtains, like in a hospital. Or an infirmary.

Oh shit. Hazel...

"Hazel!" Leo sat upright in bed, eyes wide and ready to run.

"Woah!" Jason grabbed his shoulders and pushed him down again.

Now that he looked, he WAS in an infirmary. White, bleached cotton sheets separated the perfectly made beds, giving it a lonely feeling.

Eww. He hated the smell of infirmary. It smelled so...sick.

"Where's Hazel?" He asked, refusing to sit down. His fingers traced along his jawline; a messy scar remained as a tribute to his fight. He assumed they hadn't seen it, hopefully being too busy with seeing if he was alive. Or maybe Imperial Gold couldn't be healed; he wasn't really sure.

"She's perfectly safe. We won right before she would've gotten hurt." Piper soothed, but even she looked uneasy. "The kids are being punished. You passed out."

"That's pathetic." Leo scoffed, sinking back down onto the fluffy, cotton pillows in relief. "I fainted like a wimp."

"No, you didn't." Jason said vehemently. "You aren't a wimp."

Leo shrugged, unconvinced. "Neither of you fainted, right?"

Piper and Jason exchanged a look that clearly said _we can't argue with him_ and left, talking - or arguing - in hushed tones.

A panel of judges flickered in front of Leo's eyes, and he closed them, welcoming the comforting blackness to soothe the start of his headache.

He was Sammy Valdez's reincarnation. Who knew?

* * *

><p><strong>So, there's my theory. Also I have a poll set up for Octavian and Jason's pairings (finally figured out how to do that!) so if you could click over and spare me a moment of your time.<strong>

**Does anyone have any ideas for a pairing for Frank? I was thinking Drew for some reason, I don't know why**

**Opinions and ideas are always welcome, but please no flames**


	8. smores

**8-making smores**

* * *

><p>"Are you sure this is okay?" Leo hissed, shrouded in darkness.<p>

"Yeah." Hazel called back over her shoulder. "Perfectly fine."

"We're sneaking into the forest!" He tried to explain, as if Hazel had no idea what was going on. "Y'know, things that could kill us?"

"And we can handle ourselves." Hazel corrected him as they reached the cover of the shadowy trees.

Even Hazel had to admit that this was scary. It was like a classic horror movie, with the owls spooking everyone and the two people making out in the woods.

Woah. Hazel could _feel_ her cheeks go red. She did _not_ just think that.

"Hazel, you okay?" Leo's voice asked concerned, as the daughter of Pluto shrieked when something alive ran across her foot, though thankfully distracting her from her blush-inducing thoughts.

"Fine." Hazel said, but her squeaking voice said otherwise.

"You're shaking." Leo wrapped an arm around her; Hazel's cheeks lit up like a flare, turning a shade of red never before acheived by a human or a demigod.

"Uhh." She stuttered out, cursing her complete inability to form a coherent word.

"I'll make a fire!" Leo decided brightly, turning away to gather sticks and sweep away the pine needles on the forest floor.

Within a few minutes, a fire was burning cheerfully; Hazel decided he rubbed two sticks together and left it at that because she wanted to sit down with some light.

Maybe this _had_ been a bad idea.

She hoped the blush still staining her cheeks wasn't too noticable in the rosy light of the fire.

"You want a smore?" Leo offered, and her eyes snapped back to him from the dark roots of a tree.

Woah. Just...woah. He looked amazing by firelight, with it reflected in his eyes and his hair and...GET A GRIP HAZEL!

Hazel shook her head as if to shake the thoughts out. "Sure."

"Here you go!" Leo said cheerfully, handing her some chocolate, a couple Graham Crackers, and a few marshmallows.

"Where did you get this?" Hazel asked, sticking the marshmallow on a stick and holding it over the sparking red flames.

"My belt." Leo said casually, leaning back against a tree trunk and patting the tool belt fondly. "It's magic."

"Uh-huh." Hazel hummed under her breath skeptically. "Where's your fairies?"

"Hey!" The son of Hephaestus protested, his hand dipping into one of the pockets latched firmly around his waist. "It's true! Breath mint?" He offered her a tin box from the pocket.

"That's crazy." Hazel laughed, scraping the half-burned, slightly melted, very gooey and very delicious marshmallow off the stick and onto the cracker.

"We're children of gods, fighting against a giant army while trying to put an unstoppable goddess that wants to kill us all back to sleep." Leo said, his voice somewhat muffled by the smore in his mouth.

"And somehow, we're normal." Hazel put the chocolate on the marshmallow and placed the second cracker over it as she spoke.

Yum. Really yum. It was good. She couldn't remember ever eating something like this.

"Yep. Normal." Leo agreed, with a rather strange, almost wistful tone as an owl hooted and the fire cast creepy shadows over the trees.

Almost like it was prophesizing something...

* * *

><p><strong>OMFG, am I updating?<strong>

**Listen, guys, I'm so sorry. Really. My life has been so upside-down and backwards lately: sports, depression, my first boyfriend ever, ect. *sigh***

**I'll try to finish this, but really. My life is a bit confusing.**

**I Am Pheonyx: I am sorry if you feel that way. I truly am trying to make this an interesting story. Frank is going to come in later. And be rather important.**

**So, like, I'm sorry?**


	9. listening to your favorite song

**9-listening to your favorite song**

* * *

><p>"Hey Hazel!"<p>

The Roman turned around quickly, her hair swishing over her shoulders, and nearly fell over.

Smooth.

"Careful!" A laughing voice said as warm hands gripped her upper arms to steady her.

"Sorry." Hazel felt her cheeks burn hot as she looked up at Leo, who was grinning wide at her.

"Clutzy, Hazel." He laughed, and she felt her cheeks turn redder at the noise.

"So what'd you want?" Hazel asked to distract from her stinging cheeks.

"I found a new song I want you to hear!" Leo started dragging the younger demigod. A couple people stared, surprised at their obvious familiarity that hadn't quite came to the other Romans and Greeks, but most didn't pay the two any attention, which Hazel thanked the gods for.

"Here." Leo shoved an iPod into her hands. "Does it work in the borders?" He wondered aloud.

"Yup." Hazel put the earbuds into her ears and pressed play. She looked up at Leo. Was he blushing?

The first of the lyrics began to float through the earbuds.

Hazel listened the whole song through, tapping her foot and nodding to the beat, and removed the earbuds in a daze.

"Did you like it?" Leo asked, a blush on his cheeks.

Hazel looked up, squinting as the sun flashed in her eyes, blinding her momentarily and sending bright sparkles across her vision.

"New Orleans jazz?" She asked, a smile curving her lips up.

"Yeah." Leo fidgeted uncomfortably, picking at his shirt's hem awkwardly. "I thought you'd like to hear some music from..." He bit his lip hesitantly. "Your time."

Hazel jumped forward and wrapped her arms around the stuttering demigod.

Leo lurched back, shocked, before wrapping his arms in a huge hug around the daughter of Had-Pluto.

Hazel leaned her head against Leo's shoulder, wondering absently why it felt right to be in his arms.

Leo smelled like he had when she'd first met him: like bronze and oil and a bit of smoke. He was warm, and Hazel couldn't help a smile.

Too soon though, she became aware of the fact that she was _hugging_ Leo. Hugging _Leo_.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Hazel jumped back, her face positively burning like the sun.

"Uh...it's okay!" Leo looked dazed.

Hazel bit her lip, squeaked out another apology, and hurried away.

"Hazel!" She heard Leo call after her, but she didn't stop until she was leaned against the tree on top of the hill, breathing in the earthy smell.

She shouldn't be thinking this way. About a Greek! And she still had Frank to think about...

This sucked. Hazel sighed, running a hand through her cinnamon curls.

She needed to talk to Frank. What would she say? An "Oh, by the way, I'm dumping you even though we never officially started dating for a Greek who I met a couple weeks ago"? Yeah, that'd go over well.

Romans were warriors, Hazel thought as she stared at the purplish clouds on the horizon. They didn't fall in love.

That wasn't neccissarily true. Dakota and Gwen were in love. Reyna had been head-over-heels for Jason before he left.

Hazel began to walk toward the barracks as the ominous purple-black clouds drifted closer.

Leo was the enemy. And kind and thoughtful and amazing and keeping secrets from her...

No, she'd only met him a few weeks ago! It wasn't right to think that he would tell her everything.

Hazel knew one thing. She had to talk to Frank.

"Hazel!" Reyna ran up to the daughter of Pluto, gasping in air and generally looking cross.

"Yes, Reyna?" Hazel said politely.

"Get to the barracks and pack your bags. Only clothes and other essentials." Reyna commanded imperiously. "We're heading to Rome."

* * *

><p><strong>For the person who asked, no, I am not a professional writer. I don't think I ever will be. I actually want to be an architect...<strong>

**Review, please? :D**


	10. rain on the roof

**10-listening to the rain on the roof**

* * *

><p>Leo stared out at the dark sky, yawning and blinking frequently. He could hardly see through the foggy purplish-black haze. Headlights shone through, but they didn't do much; they made shadows loom out of the darkness.<p>

Rain pattered gently on the roof and against the windows, making streaks of water run down like the glass was crying softly.

"Hey." Jason said as he came up behind the son of Hephaestus, standing next to him at the giant bronze wheel.

"Hey Jason." Leo greeted, turning the wheel slightly. "Where's Piper?"

"Not here." The former praetor sighed unhappily. "I don't know where she is. She's mad about Reyna."

"You were almost dating her." Leo commented absently, more focused on not crashing the huge, bronze airship. "And you didn't tell Pipes. My guess is she's a bit pissed. Give her some time; she'll cool off eventually."

Jason was silent for a minute before, "Leo, did you just say something intelligent?"

Leo turned, taking his gaze off the soaked window to stick his tongue out childishly at the Roman.

Jason just laughed, and soon Leo was laughing too.

"We should be at Camp Half-Blood soon." Leo finally managed to get his laughter under control, anticipation starting to eat him from the inside. Home.

"Are they ready?" Jason asked somberly, and suddenly he was the Roman, the former praetor, a warrior instead of the joking friend.

"For war?" Leo asked, glancing to the side, not expecting an answer. "We're getting ready."

A silence invaded the control room, and Leo suddenly realized that Jason had said "they" and he had said "we". The reality was that they weren't the same.

It was a crushing reality, yes. After the time of friendship, the quest, and they were still different.

"Do you think that we'll be friends after this?" Jason asked in a very strange voice, slightly strangled as if he was about to cry.

"Don't cry." Leo said, attempting a pathetic little grin. "Or I'll have to hug you, and that isn't very manly."

"I'm not going to cry!" Jason exclaimed indignantly, but a smile curved his lips up.

"So what are you going to do?" Leo asked, spinning the wheel so they headed south and didn't crash into the Empire State Building.

He had a feeling that the gods wouldn't like that.

"I don't know." Jason said helplessly, gesturing wildly with his hands. "I mean, I like Piper, I really do, but Reyna..."

"You like her too." Leo finished absentmindedly, peering out into the gloom.

"Yes!" Jason sighed in defeat. "I don't know what to do."

"Well, figure out something." Leo hummed a tune aimlessly under his breath. "Before both of them kick your butt."

"Leo, you're different." Jason said after a moment of contemplation. "I mean, you aren't as immature - no offense - but it's something else too."

Leo leaned over to check the controls, biting his tongue so he didn't spill out his horrible secret. His eyes widened at the engines.

"Ugh!" He cursed violently. "The engines are failing!"

"What?" Jason hurried over, but he obviously had no clue what was happening. His hands fluttered uselessly over the complicated control panel until Leo pushed him away.

"We're going to crash!" The son of Hephaestus yelled as the airship shuddered violently and stopped dead. It began to shake, and then, all of a sudden, it fell.

Leo dashed back to the wheel, squinting into the rain. He pulled up on the wheel desperately.

"What are you doing?" Jason screamed, heading for the door.

"Trying to land the freaking thing so we aren't drowned." Leo called back, turning the wheel to the left harshly and twisting a knob that let out an alarm.

It was high-pitched and loud, and Leo could hear the Romans waking up and calling to each other in sleep-slurred and confused voices, probably wondering what was going on.

The airship crashed into the ground with the force of, well, of a thousand tons of metal falling from hundreds feet off the ground.

Leo yelled incoherently as he was thrown off his feet, turned upside-down and backwards, and completely soaked as the glass shattered, letting in the rain.

Screams echoed down the bronze corridors as Leo peeled his forehead from the floor, groaning.

"We're here!" He yelled into the intercom, rubbing his head. A bruise was forming.

He wondered vaguely if anyone had died. Then he winced, guilty. It would be his fault.

The Greek stumbled out of the broken window. Glass crushed under his foot, tinkling pleasantly.

The misty rain felt good against his sore body, gently covering his face in a dewy wash. It trickled down the sides of his face, along the scar on his jaw, into the corner of his mouth.

Leo could make out shapes, a blurry line of cabins and a faint siren.

He was home.

Home was an odd thing for Leo, always on the move, running away. But he decided that this could pass as his home.

He whirled as someone came up behind him.

"Hey." Hazel panted, brushing a curly lock out of her face. She grinned ruefully. "Not the way I wanted to make the grand entrance into camp."

Leo moved without thinking and enclosed her in a hug.

"Uh!" Hazel squeaked, but Leo couldn't stop thinking about if she died. It was worse than Sammy's - his - reaction when she moved to Alaska.

And he finally decided it. He was in love with Hazel Levesque, past, present, and future.

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, guys, I'm not really making it a you-don't-know-who'd-ending-up-with-who story. I mean, it says HazelLeo right on the summary. It's more of a how-do-they-get-there story.**

**Anyways, this is one of my favorite chapters! I'd love to hear what you think!**


End file.
